House-door letter-box



(No Model.) E. A. 8v W. E. BENTON,

HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

No. 466,665. Patented Jan. 5, 1892.-

@mafyw/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD A. DENTON AND VILLIAM `B. DENTON, OF LA CYGNE, KANSAS.

H'OUSlE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of` Letters Patent No. 466,665, dated January 5, 1892.

Application filed September 30,1890. Serial No. 366,672. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD A. DENTON and WILLIAM B. DENTON, of La Cygne, Linn county, Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

Our invention relates to boxes or receptacles for letters, newspapers, and other classes of mail-matter, and the objects are to produce a mail-box which shall be simple, durable, and comparatively inexpensive in construction and also easy to operate, and which shall automatically indicate the presence of any mail-` matter within the box, and which, furthermore, shall be capable of receiving mail-mat ter to be taken by the postman or carrier without necessitating any opening of the box.

To the above purposes our invention consists in certain peculiar and novel features of construction and arrangement, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that our invention may be fully understood, we will proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichi Figure lis a perspective view of our improved mail-box, the front portion of the box being in vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the box, showing the interior parts in the position which they occupy normally, or when there is no mail-matter in the box. Fig. 3 is atransverse vertical section of the box on the line m x of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of the box on the liney y of Fig. 3, the gure being on a reduced scale as compared with that of the preceding figures.

In the said drawings, l designates the mail box or receptacle, which is preferably of oblongrectangular form, and which is preferably constructed of metal, any other suitable or preferred material being, however, permissibly used in the construction of the box. At its top this box is preferably provided with a longitudinally-extending hood B, which is usually of curved form and open at its ends, and which is designed to receive newspapers, parcels, and other bulky matter, and to protect the same from injury during inclelnent weather. j

At one end of the boxA is placed a door C, which Voccupies the lower part of the end of the box, and which is provided at the lower ends of its sides with two outwardly-extending trunnions c, which enter adjacent portions of the sides D of the box and serve to pivotally connect the door to the box.

Upon the upper end of the door-C, at the outer side thereof, is formed or secured a horizontal flange or lip E, which extends upward beyond the upper margin of the opening occupied by the door, and which serves to prevent the door from turninginward and entering the interior of the box. Through this iiange or lip passes a staple e, which projects outwardly from the end of the box at a point above the door-opening thereof, and which is designed to receive the hasp of a suitable padlock for retaining the door in closed position.

From the inner surface of the door C, at one side of the same and about midway between its lower and upper edges, extends inwardly and downwardly a segmentally-cu rved arm F, which is concentric with one'of the trunnions c of the door and which works through an opening g,formed in a rib or elongated oifset G upon the inner surface of the adjacent sideD of the box. This arm serves when the door is opened or closed to properly guide thel moving door, and also supports the door in horizontal position when the door is fully opened. In the upper part of this end of the box just above the door C is formed an aperture or window H, through which is displayed an indicating-plate I, the position of which shows whether the box is empty or contains mail-matter, as hereinafter explained. This indicating-plate I is preferably of rectangular form and corresponds in width with the transverse area of the box A, and is pivotally connected to the box by two oppositelydisposed trunnions t', which extend from the lower ends of its sides and enter the inner surfaces of the sides D of the box. per part of its inner side this indicating-plate is provided with an inwardly-extending hook K, to-which is connected one end of an expansively-acting spiral spring L, the opposite At the up- IOC end of said spring being connected to a similar hook N, projecting inwardly from the upper part of the inner surface of the opposite end O of the box A. This spring is preferably supported about midway of its length by a rod or bar M, which extends horizontally across the upper part of the box and the ends of which are connected to opposite sides of said box.

Q designates a drop-plate which is hinged at its upper edge to the inner surface of the upper part of said end O, as shown at P, so that said drop-plate depends over an aperture in the upper part of the end O. To the upper part of this drop-plate, on the inner surface of the same, is attached one end of a curved arm R, which extends downward and inward toward the opposite end of the box, the inner extremity of said arm being at about the center of the box and being formed with ashort laterally-extending horizontal arm r. This inner end of the arm R comes into contact with the under side of the inner end of a gravity-arm S, the opposite end of which is pivotally connected to the inner surface of one side of the box near to its point of juncture with the end of said box which has the door C. On its under side or edge, just within its pivotal end, the gravity-arm S is formed with a shoulder or stop s, which engages at times with a horizontal shoulder J, formed on the adjacent edge of the indicating-plate-I. At its lower edge this indicating-plate I is formed with a lug or stud V,which is pendent from said plate and which Comes at times into contact with the inner margin of the segmentallycurved upper edge of a lug X, said lug being secured or formed upon the inner side of the door C.

The operation of the above-described mechanism is as follows: When a letter or other article of mail-matter is to be placed in the box, it is inserted into the aperture against which lies the plate Q, and this insertion of the mail-matter tilts the plate Q inward and upward. This movement of the plate Q causes a corresponding upward movement of the inner end of the arm R, and, this arm thereby lifts the inner end of the gravity-arm S, lso as to release its shoulder or stop s from .engagement with the shoulder or stop of the indicator-plate I. As soon as this latter movement occurs, the spring L presses the upper part of the indicator-plate I outward toward the window H, and by this position the plate I indicates that there is mail-matter located inthe box. As soon as the mail-matter has been dropped through the aperture which is covered by the door-plate Q, said plate drops by gravity downward over the aperture, and the arm R also drops downward away from the inner Vend of the gravity-arm S, as shown in Fig. l. Vthen the mail-matter is to be removed from within the box, the padlock is removed from the box and the door is tilted downward into open horizontal position, thus affording access to the interior of the box. This outward movement of the door C causes the lug or projection X to engage the lug W of the indicator-plate l, thus drawing said plate inward and causing its shoulder J to engage the stop s of arm S, as-before. The door C being now closed, the subsequent operations of the devices are the same as those above described.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the end O of the box is shown as provided on the lower part of its outer side with a pair of parallel horizontal guides T arranged one above the other, and extending transversely of the box, the outer margins of the said guides being formed with convergent anges t. A transparent plate U is slid inward between these two anges so as to leave a space between the outer surface of the end of the box and the inner surface of the plate, and in this space can be slipped mail-matter which is to be taken by the postman or carrier.

From the above description it will be seen that we have devised a simple, durable, and easily-operated mail-box, which automatically indicates the presence or absence of mailmatter and which effectually and securely receives and protects the mail-matter.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An improved mail-box, comprisinga suitable receptacle provided at one end with a receiving-aperture and at the opposite end with a window or exposure-aperture, a gravity dropplate pivoted upon the inner side of one endot the receptacle, so as to close the receivingaperture, an arm carried by said drop-plate and extending inwardly therefrom, an indicating-plate pivoted within the opposite end of the receptacle adjacent tothe exposure-aperture, an arm pivoted upon the inner side of the receptacle adjacent to the indicatingplate and engaging said plate and also extending yat its inner end across the path of movement of the drop-plate arm, a spring located within the receptacle and pressing outwardly upon the indicating-plate, a door hinged at its lower end in the lower part of that end of the receptacle which has the exposure-aperture, a projection upon the inner side of said door at the upper part thereof, and a lug upon the lower edge of the indicating-plate engaged by the projection upon the door, substantially as set forth.

2. An improved mail-box, comprising a suitable receptacle, a door hinged thereto, and having a projection on its upper part, a pivoted arm mounted in the receptacle and provided with a shoulder, a pivoted indicatingplate mounted also within the receptacle and having a shoulder to be engaged by the shoulder of the pivoted arm, alug or projection on the indicating-plate to be engaged by the projection Lon the door, a coiled spring pressing upon the indicating-plate and connected to the IOO IIO

inside of the receptacle, a cross-arm Within the receptacle for supporting the spring, and a gravity drop-plate having an inwardly-extending arm' the inner end of which engages beneath the inner end of the pivoted arm when the drop-plate arm moves upward, substantially as set forth.

In testimonywhereof We afix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD A. DENTON. WILLIAM B. BENTON. Witnesses:

GEORGE G. THORPE, H. E. PRICE. 

